# stepmother

Pronunciation: US say "STEP-muth-er" /ˈstɛpˌmʌðɚ/; UK say "STEP-muth-uh" /ˈstɛpmʌðə/

## Noun

1. The wife of one's father who is not one's biological mother.
   - Simple: The woman your father marries who is not your own mother.
   - _She grew close to her stepmother over the years they lived together._
   - _Many fairy tales cast stepmothers as cruel rivals to the heroine._

## Noun

2. A viola, especially Viola tricolor, also known as heartsease. *(rare)*
   - Simple: A small garden flower, also called heartsease or wild pansy.
   - _The cottage border was thick with stepmother and other low-growing violas._
   - _Gardeners once prized stepmother for its hardy, cheerful blooms._

## Origin

From Middle English stepmoder, from Old English stēopmōdor, from Proto-Germanic *steupamōdēr, corresponding to step- plus mother. It is related to Dutch stiefmoeder, German Stiefmutter, and Swedish styvmor.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stepmother (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).